Maintenance Drought tolerant and grows in a variety of dry to moist soils. Although popular as a shade plant, NPSOT members have reported it growing in full sun with no supplemental water. Forms colonies, but easy to contain by pulling. Native habitat: woodland edges along streams and wooded limestone slopes and ledges, understory shrub in coastal Texas, open areas, streambanks, disturbed area.
Description Blooms June-November. Tall, upright form. Leaves are downy-green, heart-shaped to 3-lobed, with broad toothed margins. Bright-red, hibiscus-like flowers never fully open, their petals overlapping to form a loose tube with the stamen protruding – said to resemble a Turkish turban. The fruit is a chambered berry. Larval host: White Skipper.